Pile fabric construction



Aug- 10, 1937. J. A. BRANEGAN 2,089,182

PILE FABRIC CONSTRUCTION Filed May 29, 1935 mvENToR. JfiMfs Bem/:641V

ATTORNEYS Patcnted Aug, 10, 1937 UNITED STATES PTENT oFFlcB 4 Claims.

The present lnvention relates to an improved pile fabric and it particularly relates to a composite pile fabric the pile of which is wholly or largely composed of synthetic yarns, particularly 6 of cellulosic character.

The invention of the present application will be particularly described in connection with its application to a type of Velvet known as transparent velvet.

10 An object of the present invention is to provide an improved pile fabric particularly of transparent Velvet type which will be provided with a more durable and substantially resistant pile, which will be of enhanced durability and sub- 15 stantially improved wearing qualities and which may be made up to form dresses and other wearing apparel of Superior appearance and quality.

Other objects will be obvious or will appear during the course of the following specification.

Although not limited thereto, the present invention is particularly applicable to pile fabrics of the type in which the pile is substantially completely composed of rayon, while the ground is composed partly of rayon and partly of natural silk. or wholly of rayon.

It has been found that the quality of pile fabrics having rayon piles may be particularly greatly improved by subjecting such piles to successive dyeing, oiling and plastic coating Operations, the

30 coating operation being carried out with a plastic material which may be readily applied in a liquid. aqueous or organic solvent bath and which may be substantially hardened so as to be resistant to washing.

To give an example of the manner of preparing fabrics for these successive treatments, it has been found suitable to weave together a ground warp of a 60 to 70 turn natural silk in gum yam and a iilling of a rayon yam having 40 to 45 turns per inch, although a natural silk filling may also be employed.

The pile. however, is most satsfactorily formed of a relatively heavy multi-filament rayon yam, preferably a yarn having more than 20 filaments and a denier of more than 100. The number of fllaments may conveniently range from 50 to 60 while the denier may range from 100 to 180 or more. A preferred pile material is a rayon yarn having about 40 fllaments and over 140 denier and having ya twist of about 3 to 7 turns per inch.

In a preferred form of the present invention, a rayon pile, transparent Velvet, after dyeing is subiected to a surfacing with a solution containing a water soluble 'synthetic resin of the type known as the urea formaldehyde resins. This resin is applied after the fabric has been passed through a water bath containing sulphonated olive oil, or the sulphonated olive oil may be added to the resin bath.

The resin solution is applied without nipping or mangling so it will lie upon the surface of the rayon pile ends and after vacuum extraction, the fabric is heated. preferably incidental to finishing, sumciently to convert the resin into insoluble form. The fabric so treated not only is of en- 10 hanced quality but also is crush-proof, creaseproof and appears to be substantially waterproof.

Upon the accompanyingdrawing is shown typical transparent velvet construction with a pile Warp |2, a ground warp and a ground filling l0.nAfter cutting the pile fibers are indicated at After the pile fabric has been woven it may be satisfactorily degummed by treatment in Va hot or boiling alkaline soap solution and the fabrics may then be satisfactorily dyed, the dyeing being carried out together with or subsequently to the degumming operation.

Then the fabric is subjected to an oiling operation which consists in passing the fabric through a bath of emulsifled oil, which may include a sulphated or sulphonated oily material, such as olive oil, menhaden oil, palm oil, mustard seed oil, pea seed oil. cocoanut oil, cottonseed oil, rape seed oil, castor oil, neat's-foot oil, peanut oil, lard oil, tallow oil, elaine oil, corn oil, sperm oil, fish oil, and/ or cod oil or mixtures thereof. The emulsion preferably should be of such a character so that the oil particles will be larger than the pores in the pile fibers whereby assurance is had that a layer of oil will be deposited on the various fibers of the pile without penetration into the fibers of the pile itself.

The oil should be of such a character as to emulsify readily in water, but it should not be of such a character as to go into true solution or to form a dispersion of too fine particles.

The pile fabric which has thus been oiled and substantlally completely coated with this oily material is then run through liquid aqueous or other liquid. organic or solvent bath containing the plastic material in dispersion, Suspension or solution.

Among the solution and suspensions which may be employed are those having either a water base or an organic solvent base, and in suspension, solution or dispersion in said bases, there may be employed various types of plastic materials such as aluminum salts of high molecular weight. carboxy or sulphoaliphatic and/or aromat'icV compounds, gelatin. albumen. synthetio reslns, natural resins. gums, rubber or latex. cellulose compounds, waxes. fats. starch.'casein, sugar, camphor, phenols; cresols and so forth.

Among the baths which may be satisfactorily employed are aqueous solutions of gelatin, glue and/or casein which may contain coagulating agents, such as dichromate or paraform. The coagulating agent, however, may be omitted in the bath and ,the geiatin coated pile then subsequently subjected to treatment with a coagulating bath or atmosphere. i

There also may be employed aqueous solutions of urea, thio-urea and formaldehyde compounds. or phenol, cresol or other formaldehyde ccmpounds, preferably in water soluble condition.

If desired the resins or other' plastic materials may be placed in suspensionor emulsion in the oil treating bath so that the oil and resin or other plastic material will be deposited together on the outside .of the iibers in the manner above described.

Among the aqueous solutions which may be utilized are solutions of methylol urea and dimethylol urea, preferably in 14 to 25% concentration, said solutio'ns preferably being maintained at a pH of between 6 and 7, or between 5 and 7.

The fabric after removal from the plastic coating bath is then subjectedto a process of vacuum extraction with the pile preferably extending toward the source of the vacuum. It is most important that during this process of impregnation and subsequent thereto not to subject the fabric to any mechanical treatment or operation which might cause the resin or the oil to penetrate within the fibers or within the various strands making up the fabric, as otherwise an unsatisfactory treatment will be obtained. A wringer operation is used to remove the excess solution in some instances. to lessen the load on the vacuum extractor.

It is usually deslrable, however, to omit all squeening or wringing out Operations.

' The fabric after thus being .impregnated and extracted is provided with an all-encompassing surfacing of oil in which is carried the plastic or other resinous material.

The pile fabric is then subiected to a drying operation. During this drying operation a temperature between and 250 F. may be employed but preferably the temperature of 200 F. is not exceeded. 'I'he fabric is preferably subjected to this drying temperature for about 5 mirutesfwhile the pile is being brushed in different directions and then-afterwards the fabric again is subjected to the same temperature for a similar length of time without brushing the pile. The first heating operation should be sufiicient to dry the fabric, while the second operation should be suiilcient to harden and render insoluble the pile surfacing film. s

The final fabric will be of satisfactory high quality and may be most readiiy made up into dress fabrics. 'I'he pile will be somewhat still'- ened without detracting from the quality of the fabric and at the same time it will be most durable and resilient and will stand up over long periods of time. w

It also is possible to treat yarns and/or fabrics of silk, cotl'on. rayon, wool, worsted or other materials according to the present application. and also possible to treat other than pile fabrics by the process of the present application to obtaln a yarn or fabric of improved character. and enhanced appearance. both in reaard to the wear and feel, nexlbility and durability. and of improved drape.

Itisalsopossibletotreatfabricainsomeinstanoes, after they have been treated aceordiu to the process of the present application in variousmanners,suchastocolorthesn,waterproof them, to iireproof them and so forth. which other iinishing Operations may also, if desired, be combinedwiththetreatingoperationsofthepresent application.

Itisaisopossibletotreatthegroimdpiiowarp andalsoifdesiredthegroundwarpand ground fillingV with one of the plastic materials above before weaving. as a sise. in which case if dedred the after treatment with the resin may be eliminated or the treatment of the fabric in a resin bath'may be decreased soas to give alessef' coating of the fabric.

Where a waterprooilng treatment is combined with the principai treatment of the present application, such waterproonng effect may be attained by combining with the plastic matl'ial a high molecular weight aliphatic wazy, olly es' fatty material, which may be put into the treating bath in the form of an emulsion if desired.

This high molecular weight material may also be utlllzed in the form of its lulphonle Of' ellboxylic acid and caused to precipitate upon the fibers in the form of its aluminum or other heavy metal salts.

It is also possible to enbance the properties of the fabric according to the present invention by treating the fabric with parchmentising or mercerizlng agents, which might tend to form a ccliverted cellulosic material on the ray/on flbers and this treatment may be carried out on the rayon yam before it is woven into the final fabric. For example, treatments with carbon bisulphide and caustic alkali with comblnations of aeetic acid and acetic anhydrid. with caustic alkaliand with etherify'lng and esterifying agents may well enhance the quality of the fabric. A similar surface eifect upon the fabric may be obtained by directly treating the fabric with cellulosic ccmpounds such as cellulose acetate, cellulose ni? trate or cellulose xanthate.

It is to be understood that many alternative and modified processes and fabrics may be produced according to the disclosure of the present spplication and it is intended to include all such alternatives and modiiications as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A process of treating transparent velvet fabrics having a rayon pile to improve their quality and make them crush proof, which comprises providing the woven fabric in the form of gray goods. treating the my soods to remove the coatings and gum therefrom, dyeing the fabric. and then treating the fabric so as to deposit upon the rayon pile ends a coating containing an emulslfied sulphonated fatty oll and a water soluble synthetic resinous material, the oil being deposited from aqueous emulsion and the resinous,

material being depcsited from a solution in an aqueous medium through which the fabric is passed, extracting the excess aqueous liquid, drying the fabric, iinishing the fabric by bs'ushing thepilesothatitwill takeadesiredconformation and then heating the fabric suiiiciently to convert the water soluble syntbetic resinous material into water insoluble condition.

2. The process of claim i in'whichthegray goodsarecomposedofagroundwarpoflato'n turns natural silk in gum, in which the pile warp is' composed of a multi-filament rayon yarn, and in which the filling is composed of a rayon yarn having a relativeiy high twist, in which the urea formaldehyde resin is employed in 14 to 25% concentration in the bath having a pH of between 5 and 7, in which the oily material is a sulphonated olive oil and in which during the insolubilizing of the resin, the fabric is subjected to a temperature of between 150 to 250 F. for a few minutes.

3. An improved crush proof transparent Velvet textile fabric provided with a rayon pile in which water soluble Synthetic urea. formaldehyde resin, 10

the lat'r being insolubilized by the baking.

f JAMES A. BRANEGAN. 

